Hail to the King

The overall theme of the song appears to be something along the lines of oppression and revolution.

The first stanza shows a common trait with oppressive governments; that is killing/maiming/removing anyone that opposes them. "Watch your tongue, I'll have it cut from your head / Save your life by keeping whispers unsaid"

The second part shows the theme even further by putting the word "Royal" first. Royalties often turn into abusive dictatorships over many years of retaining power. "Death is riding in the town with armor" gives this image of a soldier, or group of soldiers, moving through the average town "with armor" enforcing the dictatorship's rule.

The chorus is quite clear that the "King" expects undying loyalty to his throne from the people.

The next line gets even darker by showing that the royalty actually does kill with their own hands, or more accurately their orders to kill. "Blood is spilled while holding keys to the throne"

The fifth stanza takes a turn towards the second "theme", this being revolution. People get fed up with the abusive dictatorship and they rebel. "Let the water flow with shades of red now / Arrows black out all the lights" The next two lines are interesting in that they turn the tables with the same imagery used previously, "Death is riding in the town with armor / They come to grant you your rights" The same type of soldiers that once marched through to kill them are giving them their rights. This is a possible foreshadowing of the last three stanzas.

The next stanza is the chorus. The chorus, as said before, details the king, or leader, expecting undying loyalty from his people. Except this time it's the revolutionary leader in power expecting this.'

The last non-chorus stanza is rather interesting. "There's a taste of fear / When the henchmen call / Iron fist to tame them / Iron fist to claim it all" This shows that the "henchmen" of the revolutionary government put fear into the people just the same as the prior royalty's soldiers would.

Overall, this song shows a vicious cycle of abusive governments, revolutions, and then the revolution's government falling back into the same cycle.

The further this point, the song could be a direct relation to any number of previous world governments or even current ones. Such candidates for this frame are the USSR (United Socialist States of Russia, AKA the Soviet Union), any number of small countries in the Middle East or Europe that have had revolutions and dictatorships, or it could even be a representation of current day USA. That being, us (I say 'us' because I am an American) having fallen into a cycle much like the song. We had a revolution against the abusive English rule, then fell back into the same pattern, abusing our own people with the same type of lies and deceit that we fought against in 1776.

But that's just my opinion. I would appreciate if someone commented in response to this, it'd be great!

Its very obviously about a corrupt king who rules with an iron fist, and uses extreme methods to get his points across. Whether or not its a commentary on any current and/or recent events I don't know. Only the band would know that. They're pretty simplistic lyrics, by A7x standards, but they're still catchy and very metal which, from what I understand, was the objective.

M. Shadows explained to Kerrang! magazine:
The song tells the tale of a tyrannical king who strikes down any who oppose him. "'Hail To The King' is a question about how society sees itself. From day one, people have elected kings and leaders, people have followed presidents, and they cry over who the new pope is. Sometimes you've got to step back and say, 'What are we doing here? Why do we need all of these people to tell us how to run our lives?' That goes for God above and Satan below. Who's the king? We have many kings. It was one of those things when we said the statement, sang it in a song and it was like, 'wow, that really strikes a nerve and means something.' We knew that some people would look at it as us saying, 'We're the kings,' but we were willing to undergo that amount of criticism, when really it was something a bit deeper about society."

I would think medieval times right? But as the song quotes "They've come to take all your rights" I would say the government and how they took our right. That's what i think.

Not everything is a metaphor, or a comment on current events. Perhaps I'm completely wrong, but it seems to me like the song is what it is. Yeah, it might not be as exciting, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Can it not just be a generic medievalish story about a tyrant?

Yes, sometimes lyrics hold no meaning, but if you'll check out some of their other song's lyrics, it's obvious they have a message. But honestly, I haven't been able to make a fair assumption as to whether their "king" is Jesus or the devil. And they aren't telling, as far as I know.

No ill feelings meant to anyone who may take it that way, but if you listen to A7X then you will know what he means. Those who do not understand either have not listened to many of their songs, or simple have no foothold in any kind of beliefs. Listen to Shepherd of Fire, Chapter 4, and many other songs. Perhaps something will click..

I kinda think this is the response to the first song on the album (Shepard of Fire)

Y'all may have your own ideas about this song, but I believe this part of the album was definitely meant to pay homage to bands that paved the way for A7X. If you watched the music video, Shadows was wearing a bandana the same way axel rose would, which makes sense because GNR was Shadows' inspiration to form a band.

This interpretation isn't to be taken as either a left or right wing interpretation. On the surface, it could be taken as just another rock bands protest about a generic government's heavy hand of control, censorship, etc...if not for 2 words. The chorus refers to "the one." This is what Oprah famously referred to Obama as in 2007 when she openly threw her support behind him. At the time, she received much criticism for this political stand. Avenged Sevenfold is openly conservative/libertarian politically and those 2 words, to me, clearly point to how the band sees the present political situation in the USA, particularly where conservatives and libertarians feel the current gov. is taking the country.